Tag Archives: New York Yankees

652. The number 652 is a special number. A number that represents baseball history. A number that will probably never be surpassed. 652 is the number of times Yankees closer Mariano Rivera saved a game. His career has come to an end. As a fan of baseball and the Yankees, I can only say thanks Mo.

I grew up watching the “Core Four;” Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Derek Jeter. To see these players retire is bittersweet. I finally understand how previous generations felt when the baseball stars of their childhood called it quits. Yes, we still have Jeter, but the Yankees are not, and won’t be the same.

Mariano Rivera (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rivera is a true great of the game. The farewell ceremonies, gifts from other teams and most importantly, the respect from baseball fans around the country are a true testament. Baseball fans are hard-pressed to find a current star, in any sport, that matches Rivera’s professionalism and class.

If my son were to have a sports role model, or “hero,” I would hope it would be Rivera.

In five years, I hope to be in Cooperstown celebrating the induction of Mariano Rivera. I’ll bring my son of course and tell him about watching all the championships and the coolness which Rivera went about his work.

Enjoy retirement Mo.

I hope you enjoyed this post. All comments and feedback are welcome and encouraged!

I’m a baseball fan and a Yankee fan at that. However, I’m truly exhausted by the saga that is Alex Rodriguez. I need not go into more details or rant about my personal thoughts on the subject. Instead, I thought about how this relates to fatherhood and parenting in general.

The answer is rather simple, the entire situation is a great way to explain some important life lessons. So here is a list of the top ten things a parent can teach their kids using Alex Rodriguez:

No matter how far you can hit a fastball, bad behavior will always catch-up to you.

Anyone tells you to stick a needle in any part of you, and their name is not followed by M.D., seriously question what you’re about to do.

Sports are just entertainment. There are significantly more important things in life.

Get over yourself. Each of us has the potential to do great things, but that doesn’t make us better or more important than everyone else.

Don’t lie. Once you lie, you can never stop. See item #1 above.

Be grateful to those who employ you. For their generosity provides for your life.

If you truly don’t like who or what employs you, leave.

The world isn’t always nice, get used to it.

Some days you will wish you could go back to kindergarten, that’s a normal feeling.

I hope my son is a Yankee fan. At least, I hope he’s a baseball fan. Right now, Little A is too little to understand baseball. But, as a lifelong fan of the game, and lifelong fan of the Yankees, I hope the love of the game will be something we share.

If he’s a fan of the game but not of the Yankees, I won’t be disappointed or upset, unless he’s a Met or Red Sox fan. I’m sure however, much conversation and probably numerous father-son moments will occur.

Following sports I think will be useful in teaching lessons to the little guy. I also think, following sports in today’s world will be more complex than the days of Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio. Where did you go Joe? Twitter didn’t exist, blogs didn’t exist, sports news wasn’t a twenty-four-seven cycle. The way these athletes were off the field, wasn’t common knowledge and rarely discussed in the sport media. Sports in general is more reflective of the world around us than ever before.

When talking about the Yankees I hope I won’t have to explain steroids and the desire to cheat to get ahead, but I know I will. When talking about sports, I will have to talk about off-the-field situations like Aaron Hernandez.

Professional athletes are not bad, unfortunately like any other profession, there are a few bad apples that spoil the bunch. I hope my son is a Yankee fan so we can share in the history of that franchise and what it represents about sports. I also will teach him that sports are just sports. That professional athletes are just people and these men and women are not heroes.

In the end, I hope my son is a Yankee fan. If nothing else, I want to hand down my Yankee collectibles and know they won’t end up in a yard sale.